A little milestone

So Jack will sometimes repeat "I love you" when you say it to him, but he's never before said it all on his own.

This morning when he woke up, he came in and jumped on our bed, gave me a hug and said "I love you, Mama!"

Oh my.

Bargain Hunting

Recently I came across a couple blogs of those amazing shoppers who manage to feed a family of 4 on $100 a month or something amazing just by using coupons and shopping wisely. Never in our lives have Charlie and I taken the time to try to do this, but after seeing some of the examples posted on these blogs, I thought we should give it a shot.

So I've been industriously clipping coupons for a couple of weeks and sorting them into little envelopes and tonight was able to escape the house for a little while (without kids and husband) and hit our local Albertsons. Though I certainly didn't manage to set any records, it ended up being a little over $80 for $130 worth of groceries-- almost $50 savings. Not too bad for a first try, I think. It was actually kind of fun - so I think we are going to keep doing it.

Jack is settling well into kindergarten and is very happy to be going to the same place his sisters go each morning. He had to have a TB test this week (part of his work up for Shriners). Charlie took him in on Tuesday and then I had to take him back on Thursday to have it checked. Unfortunately he remembered Tuesday's visit all too well. He refused to get out of the car and once I got him out, refused to walk and collapsed in a ball on the ground. So I had to carry him out of the parking garage and across the sky bridge and up to the doctor's office. I wrestled him into the exam room and it took three of us to hold him down and get his coat off, just so they could look and touch the test area (he is fine). Poor kid. He understands almost everything we tell him, but he just didn't go for the whole "No owies" thing this time.

It's snowing a little here--not enough to stick (thank goodness) but it sure is pretty!

Weekend at the Beach house

Just back from a couple of days at the beach and we lucked out on weather again - it was 62 yesterday. Quite a change from the 20 degrees and 18 inches of snow of just a couple of weeks ago.

We got to play out on the beach for a while. Our favorite place is actually right around the little river that goes out to ocean, which is just a few blocks from our house. Here are some pictures of the kids (human and canine) having fun!

So far in 2009

It's only the 10th (and Happy 15th Birthday to Mary today!) and the year seems really busy. Jack started kindergarten last Monday. He is in the same building as Bethany but they are in different classrooms. He seems to be happy that he is going to the same school with the girls, but we've been called twice by the school so far when he has had breakdowns, crying for long periods of time. Both times he was able to calm down and stay at school. One of the time he lost it because the zipper on his beloved Superman backpack broke and could not be fixed. He is such a brave little boy, we know he will be fine, but he has been through so much in the last 2 months.

And he had to spend the morning of his 2nd day of kindergarten at the cardiologist. This was his first evaluation with the doctor who had reviewed Jack's medical information from China. They did an EKG. This did not go over well with Jack, who was already a little upset because he didn't get to go to school with the girls that morning. They would have done an echocardiogram but Jack was just too upset and the doctor said he recommended just waiting six month until he gets more settled in and then do it. Anyway, things look fine right now, no murmer heard, no treatment expected, just periodic monitoring. Very good news.

We received a treasure from China recently. Thanks to the ongoing efforts of our agency, we received a Lifebook for Bethany, made by her orphanage. There are pictures and little stories about her activities from 2005 up to right before we met her in May 2007. It is just amazing. We are trying to figure out the best way to preserve this as it's on thin paper and the photos are glued to the paper. We are just very grateful to finally have this huge piece of her history.

We met Jack for the first time two months ago today. Overall things have gone pretty well, though we are still having issues with the three of them getting too wild when they play. Someone is always getting hurt or getting left out or something that requires a lot of crying and comforting. It's good to get back into a schedule after the extended Christmas break and weather problems. Work has been very busy, there is homework and housework and always something going on, but we are very glad to be finally settling into being a family of five.

Some Christmas Pics

Finally a few pictures from Christmas! These are from our belated (due to snow) Christmas celebration with my parents. The kids just adore their Grandma and Grandpa. Jack was completely bowled over by the bike they gave him. He insisted on sitting on it even when Charlie was still putting it together. More pictures later of Christmas Eve and day - they are in the other camera and I can't find the cable!

Christmas Update

I promise to get some pics up soon, but we had a really nice Christmas this year. Because of the weather (our 17 1/2 inches of snow) and Charlie's work schedule, we had our Christmas with the kids on Christmas eve. Charlie had to work Christmas Day and missed the kids seeing what Santa had brought them. We would normally go to my parents' but had to postpone that also, so we went there on Sunday and had a very nice afternoon.

Jack was a little confused about the present thing at first, but it didn't take him long to figure out that yes, the presents were actually for him and he was just thrilled. The highlight of his whole Christmas was the bike my parents got him. Charlie put it together at their house and even though the tires were flat, Jack sat on the bike a good share of our visit and kind of pushed it around.

The girls had a wonderful time also...it's amazing how many Barbie/Fairy/Princess things are at our house now.

And it hasn't stopped yet

so it snowed on and off all day and we are supposed to get 1-2 inches more tonight. We have about a foot here. Charlie is home, but his truck is 20 miles away at work. My sister and her husband don't live too far from Charlie's job and they have 4 wheel drive and chains and were able to pick him up and bring him home. He couldn't get his truck out.

So tomorrow is supposed to be a day without new snow, but probably not warm enough to melt and then another storm is coming in on Wednesday to bring some more snow. This is setting all sorts of records. We didn't even get mail delivery today.

My office is open tomorrow, and it should be a big adventure to get to work. Charlie will be home with the kids and then we will just have to see what happens the rest of the week. The pictures really don't do it justice -- there is just a amazing amount of snow out there. We have not been able to do any of our usual holiday outings, which is really disappointing for Jack's first Christmas.

Did I mention how much fun it is to be stuck in the house for days at a time with three small children mere days before Christmas? I am actually looking forward to battling the elements to go to work in the morning.

Freezing Rain, Freezing everything

So now it's Sunday morning and we have maybe 8 inches of snow on the ground, covered by ice. The dreaded freezing rain came last night. The front of the house is now covered with a thick layer of ice so we can't see out or open the door. The tree branches are also coated. It's very pretty but also pretty scary as this is the kind of thing that makes big branches and whole trees come crashing down. We have been lucky enough to keep our power but there are thousands of people in the area who are without. It's 21 degrees right now and it's supposed to get to maybe 32 today but then back down--they are predicting snow and rain throughout the week.

Charlie ended up staying at a hotel near work last night and though he wasn't scheduled to work until tomorrow, he was called in this morning to cover for someone else. So at least he didn't have to make the awful drive across the hills last night. They are telling people to stay home unless it's an emergency kind of situation.

The kids are going stir crazy so we walked to the Safeway yesterday, which is about 4 blocks away. It was not fun. We had some lunch, got a few things and struggled home. Today we will stay put and I will try to find enough things to keep them occupied. We are just praying that the power stays on!

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Early evening update - a high of 32 degrees - ha ha!! It never got above 23 here at the house and we just had another big snow dump. I think it's still going. We are lucky enough to still have power. My office is closed tomorrow, which is a very rare event. This is amazing.

Extreme Weather Continued

So the schools have been closed 3 of the 5 days this week. Charlie stayed home the rest of the week and I got to stay home today. We currently don't have a ton of snow on the ground but there have been flurries on and off all day. Tomorrow is supposed to be the big problem - a big storm coming in the morning that could mean up to 6 inches here! This is pretty unusual for us. And then we will possibly get freezing rain before warming up to regular rain.

Charlie has to work tomorrow, which is the scary thing because he has to drive a long ways to get to work and has to drive over a hilly area to get there. We are keeping our fingers crossed that he can get home tomorrow evening before things get too bad. Doesn't look like we will have a white Christmas, but this is enough snow for a while - and it's not even officially winter yet!

Extreme Weather Conditions!

At least for our area. It did start snowing early this morning. We have about an inch here right now and it's still coming down. It's blowing hard and the temperature is dropping. They are saying 1- 4 inches here. It's not all that unusual for us to get snow a couple of times a year, but normally it's gone pretty quickly. This week however, they are expecting a very cold spell - high temps in the twenties and lows in the teens.

We went out with the kids and they enjoyed the snow for a little while, as you can see. It didn't take long before the wind and the blowing snow got to them and we all came in for hot chocolate.

We are in for an interesting week!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

We are on official Winter Storm watch, with actual snow expected tonight. Now, the entire Pacific Northwest typically has an insane reaction to the possibility of snow. Usually what happens is that there are days of hype, special bulletins on the TV, shivering TV people reporting live from all over the place...and then no snow.

But they seem pretty sure this time and it's cold right now.We've had some mixed snow and rain already. Charlie is at work on the other side of town and to get homehe has to go over the West Hills, which usually do get some snow, so we are hoping it will hold off until he's home. And it would be nice if it could all be gone by Sunday evening or they will cancel school and one of us will have to stay home from work. Since we used up all our vacation very recently, that's going to be a problem. They are reporting, though, that we will have the coldest temperatures in years this next week - I've seen as low as 12 degrees! It would be fun to wake up to snow-covered world.

Jack is doing very well. He had his first visit with the pediatrician yesterday and everything checked out fine, they did some labs and we will see if anything comes of that. He was sooo brave! He had to have two shots and he didn't cry or even flinch, he was actually very interested in the proceedings. They gave him Spiderman stickers - which matched his Spiderman shirt, underwear, shoes and bandaid! He will see the pediatric cardiologist in a couple of weeks to get his heart condition checked out and we were really pleased yesterday to find out that he's been accepted for treatment at Shriners. It will take some months to get him seen but we know first-hand how wonderful they are and we are very anxious to have his knees evaluated.

He started pre-school full-time on Wednesday and once he gets past being upset (actually very upset--the crying and screaming and laying on the floor kind) when I leave, he is doing fine. After thinking about it, we've made the decision to have him start kindergarten after the holiday break. He meets the age requirement and he may be eligible for extra services since it's a public school. We love the private preschool where he and the girls have gone and they will continue to go there for breaks.

We are in no way prepared for Christmas, other than putting up the Christmas tree and Charlie has done his usual amazing job of decorating the outside (and he says he is not done yet). We were planning to do the big shopping thing tomorrow - but may be snowbound instead!

Orphanage visits

I just realized I never posted about the visits we made to the girls' orphanages. Unfortunately because of our bouts with the stomach bug, plans got switched around at the last minute and I did not get to go on Bethany's visit and Charlie did not get to go on Annie's visit. But they were both highly successful.

Charlie said Bethany was welcomed with open arms. They had a nice tour, she got to play in her old playground and see her former teacher and her classroom. Bethany was very, very happy to be there and really enjoyed showing off her beloved Daddy. The staff gave her a photo album and has promised to send us some more photos via email.

Annie's orphanage is about 5 1/2 hours by car from Guangzhou, so Annie, Bethany and I had a very long day with our guide Bob and two drivers.

The staff at Annie's orphanage was so glad to see her. One of my favorite moments of the whole trip was when the woman who had been Annie's caretaker the longest saw her. She ran screaming toward Annie, with her arms open and the look on her face was just amazing. She is in the 6th picture above.

They were very, very kind to us and took us on a nice tour. We were able to see the room Annie slept in as a baby, where she slept as a toddler and also got to visit her classroom and see her teacher. They remembered us well from when we visited in November 2005 when we adopted Annie and we were able to meet several people we'd met before. The orphanage staff took a whole bunch of pictures and made a disc for us before we left. They also gave her a beautiful vase with the characters for Happy Family on it.

Even though the logistics were a little difficult, we are so happy that we made these visits. It was wonderful to see that both girls were so well-loved and well-remembered.

Settling In

Well, the sleep situation is getting a little better. The girls went back to school today--none of them were fun to wake up but we got them there on time. We got back last night from a few days at the beach, after having a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' house.

Jack took the beach in stride just like he has done just about everything else. There are always some fun events near our little beach town on Thanksgiving weekend and we managed to hit them all. The little local theater plays "The Polar Express" free so Jack saw his first movie in a theater. He did pretty well, but was more interested in the popcorn. The next day we went to a magic show done by Mrs. Claus and then Santa arrived. Pretty exciting stuff. That evening we went to the tree lighting and caroling and by that time Jack had reached his limit. So he spent the time in the car with Charlie and the girls and I got to see the tree lighting. We did have one day of decent weather and the kids got to dig in the sand and wade in the little river that leads to the ocean, which are where these pictures were taken.

Tomorrow Jack will spend a little time in preschool and then Charlie has to go back to work on Thursday, I go back on Monday and life goes on!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Math Problem

If one child's energy = X
And two children's energy = 2X
Why does three children's energy = 20X??

Going from two kids to three is sure different than going from one to two.

We are still trying to get settled in and get sleeping under control. Jack refuses to sleep in his own bed, he wants Bethany's bed and she does not want his bed for sure. And we are not still over jet lag and back on schedule so there have been numerous middle of the night issues.

It will all work out, just wish it would be sooner rather than later!

If at all possible

try to avoid going on very long plane trips with a 5, 6, and 7 year old. We are home safe and sound and overall things went okay and the kids didn't do too badly, we had some very interesting moments. The is the first time I've actually been glad to be in a plane with a lot of screaming children, as mine just blended in with the general chaos.

Jack unfortunately saved his barfarama episode until about 20 minutes after we took off from Toyko. It was pretty unpleasant, will spare you the details. He also has a very strong aversion to wearing seat belts and spent a lot of time kicking and screaming to try to get out of it (we just found out this applies to car seats not just plane seats). We had problems on both flights with our seats not being together. This is the first time we've had a problem with a NW flight, it was pretty disappointing that very few of their staff seemed to care that kids were supposed to be sitting far away from their parents. Thank goodness some nice people agreed to move.

Anyway, we are here, the house is intact and we are going to try to get everyone to take a nap and then get settled in. I actually don't think that plan is going to work, but that's the idea at least.

More later

Keeping our fingers crossed...

Stomachs are settled for the moment so we are trying to get the kids to bed so we can finish packing. We have a wake up call at 4:00 am--ugh!

Annie, Bethany and I went to Shantou to visit Annie's orphanage and had a wonderful visit. More on that and picutures after we get back I guess.

We can't believe we are leaving already. Seems like most folks are always ready to leave, but we always want to stay just a few more days....

next post from Oregon!